Back to School Goals and GIVEAWAY

I'm linking up with I {heart} Recess for her Back to School Goals linky.  What a neat set of goals to think about.

 Personal: My husband and I are realizing that we have to stay healthy in order to take care of our children and live our life to the fullest.  With that said, this summer we have spent a lot of time trying to get out healthy lifestyle back.  My goal is to continue with that lifestyle once the hustle and bustle of school work starts.

Organization:  Along with my personal goal, I am hoping to find a good schedule for me and my family for this school year.  Last year I always felt rushed in the mornings.  My hope is to wake up slightly earlier and try to leave a little before 7:00 as opposed to 7:15.  This will allow me to drop off my daughter at daycare and get to my new school by maybe 7:20 but 7:30 at the latest.  It will be a very different experience with my husband and I teaching at different schools this year.  I will have to keep us all organized in order to make it all work!

Planning:  My goal is to stay a week or so ahead with planning since I am joining a new school and team of teachers.  The nice part of that is I will only be the third teacher on the team.  It will be different for me to work with only 2 other teachers as opposed to 4.  Since I have taught kindergarten before, I feel like it will be a fantastic year!!

Professional:  I am SUPER excited to join the staff at my new school.  Since I did my student teaching there, I am familiar with some of the teachers.  I am really looking forward to getting to know the other teachers and working with them this year!!

Students:  My goals is to get to know everything I can about my students.  I am excited to meet a new group of kids and hope to touch each of their lives while watching them grow!

Motto: My motto is to be positive and do the very best I can!  There might be challenges along the way on my new journey, but I know that if I'm positive and do the best I can I will overcome!!!!

Ok...now it's your turn.  Grab this copy of the goals picture and head over to I {heart} Recess to link up!!

And just a reminder that my 100+ Follower Giveaway is ending on Friday at midnight eastern time.  Click on the picture to go to the post with the rafflecopter widgets.  There will be 2 winners with a lot of different prizes!!!

Stay tuned for a new linky about what teachers pack for lunch at school!!!

100+ Follower {GIVEAWAY}

I'm having a giveaway!!!!  Thank you so much for the lovely ladies who donated products to my giveaway.  You can see who's participating below.  I had so many volunteers to donate, I decided to have 2 separate giveaways - 2 winners!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

W-O-W! Over 100 Followers!!! I need your help!

Thanks to Heather at Fun for Learning for the graphics

 (www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/fun-for-learning)

Hi everyone!  Each day I have gotten emails of 1 or 2 new followers.  I knew I was close to 100 but never dreamed I'd make it.  W-O-W!  Thanks to everyone who is interested in reading what I have to share.  

I'm going to have a giveaway for all of my followers, but I need your help!  

I will collect all submitted forms by the end of the week to start the giveaway on Saturday!!  Be sure the come back for the giveaway!

Thanks for your support!!

Bloggy "vacation" 

Hi!  While I have enjoyed reading Teach Like a Pirate, I am quickly realizing that summer is going to be gone before I know it so I have decided to take a break from blogging and reading to just relax and enjoy my family over these next few weeks. I do plan to check my bloglovin app every day but will probably only write a post once or twice a week until September. 

Please don't stop following me!!  I'd love for you to stay and see what my year will be like at a new school. I'm SUPER excited and cannot wait to start setting up my new classroom for my new kindergarteners!!!

If you are on summer vacation, please take some time to relax before the new school year starts.  It gets crazy busy for all of us!

Liebster Award--Thank You!!

A huge thank you to 2 fellow bloggers who nominated me for this award. I am so honored!

                                          

There are a few rules for this before I can pass it on, though.

1. Link back to the blog that nominated me.
2. Answer the questions posted for me by my nominator.
3. Share 11 random facts about myself.
4. Create 11 questions for my nominees.
5. Nominate 5-11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers.
6. Contact my nominees to let them know that I nominated them.

11 questions from Carrie:

1. Why did you decide to start blogging? I started blogging because I was so inspired by all of the fellow teacher bloggers. They always had great things to share and I wanted to be a part of it. 
   
2. Have you always wanted to be a teacher? Yes!!
3. What is your favorite non-teaching website? TARGET!  I love everything Target!
4. Do you have pets, children, or both?  How many? I have 1 daughter (2.5 years old) and a boxer (1year old).
5. What goals do you have for summer? I just plan to relax and enjoy my family since the school year is so hectic. I also have a plan to work out/get fit and start making it a part of my lifestyle again.
6. What was the year, make, and model of your first car? 2001 silver, beetle
7. Have you always taught the grade that you teach now? No.  I have taught K, 1 and 2.
8. What do you like to do when you aren't teaching/grading/lesson planning? I like to cook and spend time with my family. 
9. Out of all of the places that you might have lived, which is your favorite? I have only lived here and I LOVE but my ultimate dream place is the beach (Nags Head)
10. What is your must-have accessory for your work outfits? Earrings and a watch
11. What has been your least favorite vacation destination?  Why? I have only vacationed at the beach and I've loved it every time!

11 questions from Jen:

1. What is your favorite grade to teach? I love teaching kindergarten!

2. If you could be anything other than a teacher, what would you be? I'd be a waitress at Stack Em' High pancake house in Nags Head.  Leave at 2:00 and spend the afternoon on the beach. Couldn't ask for better!

3. What is your favorite food? It is a split between Mexican and pizza. 

4. How do you spend your free time? I spend my time relaxing with my family and enjoying life. 

5. What do you like best about your classroom? I like that it is big and open with lots of space.

6. What do you like least about your classroom? I am changing schools this year!!  So my least favorite is that I am not yet in my new room.

7. What are you currently reading? Teach Like A Pirate, How to Win Friends and Influence People and Fundations

8. If money and time was no object, where would you spend your summer vacation?  Any beach but I love Nags Head.  If money and time were not an object, I'd spend the whole summer there!!

9. What is your favorite pet? Dog - boxer

10. What is your favorite TV show? The Good Wife

11. What is your must have beauty product? I'd have to say my shampoo and straightener (I have naturally curly Jair). 

11 questions for my nominees:

1. If you could be any actor or actress, who would it be and why?

2. What kind of books do you enjoy reading?

3. Do you have any kids or pets?  What are their ages? 

4. What is your favorite teacher store?

5. What is your favorite clothing store to shop for work wardrobes? Why?

6. If you could be on a reality show, what would you choose and why?

7. What do you do on the weekends?

8. How many years have you been teaching?

9. What is your favorite subject to teach and why?

10. What is your preferred teacher duty assignment?

11. If you were on a desert island, what would you want to have with you?

My nominees are......drumroll please......(their pictures are hyperlinked)

             

A Day at the Beach with Fourth Grade

Thanks for such an honor!  I'm excited to see what these ladies have to offer!  Enjoy!

Building RAPPORT

Building RAPPORT is easy when you truly love your students. Every teacher values education and its our job to instill that value on the kids. The funnier you are, the more likely the students are to have fun and enjoy learning. However, I do think there has to be a balance of structure and classroom management too. The students need to know your classroom is a safe place where they can be themselves and not be afraid to try new things. 

The next chapter is about analyzing and reflecting. I have started but have not finished, so stay tuned for a post on that. 

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!!

Teach Like a Pirate....PASSION and IMMERSION 

Well I have gotten a little late start on this book Linky because of my vacation but I'm already hooked.  I realized I better stop and post about a few chapters at a time before I continue reading. So here I am to tell you about the first 2 sections PASSION and IMMERSION.

PASSION: I have always had a passion about teaching but not always about the concept or skill that I was teaching. This section explains that you have different kinds of passions: Content, Professional, and Personal. I believe that you must find some kind of balance between these three passions in order to show your students how amazing learning can be. 

I have noticed that I do this more often with my Science and Social Studies curriculum than with Math or Reading or Writing. My hope for next year is to bring more content and professional passion into my teaching of those three subjects. 

How is your passion? Do you have a balance of these three passions?

IMMERSION: I would agree that this is another area of growth for me!  This past school year, I got very stressed about the new teacher evaluations and portfolio that we had to create as part of our eval.  Now reading just this chapter, I can see why some students were testing the waters or not fully "immersed" in their learning. I wasn't either!  Just like anything else, our students need our model (especially at such a young age) in order to practice themselves. My hope for next year is to immerse myself in my students learning and who knows, I might learn something too!

Do you immerse yourself in your teaching?  Can you tell by your students' behavior and reactions if you aren't fully immersed?

Again, I am so thankful to the two ladies below for finding a great book and putting together this blog hop. Please see {HERE} for other links to the book study. 

                       

July CURRENTLY

Maybe a few days late....but I just figured out how to type in a photo image on my iPad thanks to Reyes Remarkable Rants. She commented and shared that post so I downloaded Skitch and created this:

@

Listening- I am not a big fan of the current country music so when I get the chance (hubby is gone) I turn on the 80s and 90s country on the cable box. 

Loving- My journey over the last 3-4 months with this blog has been amazing. I never dreamed this many people would be interested in what I have to say. Thanks to all of you who follow me!  I have also loved following other blogs and seeing other teachers ideas. I have always believed that teachers should share so they don't have to recreate the wheel. I am blown away with the generosity of these teacher bloggers. 

Thinking- Next week I hope to sit down with my new principal to discuss our plans for the fall. After we talk, I will begin the process of moving my classroom. My new school is less than half a mile away but I drive a Honda Civic and my husband has a Jeep Wrangler so we will have to enlist some help!

Wanting- I got started late on my book hop and am sucked in to the book. However, I have a 2.5 year old who loves to play with mommy so my reading time is cut down to when she is sleeping.  Stay posted for my first post about the book tomorrow.

Needing- Since we have been home from vacation, I'm trying to fight off ants in my kitchen and keep the rest of my house clean. It is a big job when the 2.5 year old enjoys playing with ALL of her toys. But she is a good helper when I ask. She just can't really help do the bathrooms and floors. They usually get the back burner. 

Tips, tricks, hints- Since beginning my blog, I have learned about some cool apps that have been VERY helpful.  I will tell you a little about them:

     *Bloglovin' - This probably needs no explaining since so many bloggers have posted about it. 

     *Skitch - I just found this app from a friend leaving a comment as I told you before. It is very user 

        friendly and only took about 3-4 minutes to create my currently picture above. I love the text font!

     *Posts - I started using The Blogger app to create my posts but it wasn't very user friendly. I found 

        the Posts app and have loved using it. In fact, I'm using it to type this post. It has options to add 

        HTML, pictures, links, font adjustments, and it lets you save a draft or publish. It also keeps track 

        of my unread comments and drafts. 

     *Google Drive - I have learned the importance of this app just this week as I have tried to share some 

        of my products with my giveaway winners. I had to go on TpT and download the documents to save    

        them to Google Drive since I have them saved on a jump drive. I only have access to my iPad at 

        home. It was fast and easy to add a winners email to a document so they would have access. 

Ok...enough from me for today. I hope you enjoy. Don't forget to link up!

Blogging Questions and a few Giveaways

I am only a few months in to this blogging thing and am still trying to figure some things out. Please email me (shiftingteacherk2@gmail.com) or leave a comment if you're able to help with any of the questions.

1.  I would like to complete my July currently in my iPad but cannot find a program that will let me insert a picture so I can add my phrases. Do you use an app or something else to update or change pictures on your iPad?  My laptop is currently out of commission. 

2. How can I hyperlink my blog in my signature when commenting?

3. My blog template is skinny in the middle post area so you can see that some of the pictures or forms that I post don't fit all the way. Any tips on how to make these fit?

Ok, that is all I have for today.  I hope to have a good grip on this for when I begin teaching in September. 

I wanted to share about a giveaway I found this morning. Please click the picture to check it out. 

Back to school Bloglovin' Linky

I wanted to let you all know that I plan to share about the book Teach Like A Pirate but since I was on vacation, I haven't had a chance to begin reading. It is my goal for July!!  So stay tuned for my posts about each chapter.

Today, I'm linking up with Teaching is a Gift and A Teacher Without a Class for their Bloglovin' Blog Hop. 

Please follow me on Bloglovin by clicking the button below or to the left of my page.  Any questions, just let me know in the comments. 


After following my blog, check out some of these other great blogs in the Linky!!

Going on a blog hunt...

I am so excited for all of the previous and new followers!  Today I'm linking up with Corkboard Connections for her blog link up.  Click the picture below to find other great teacher bloggers!

You can follow me on bloglovin'. Just click the link on the top left of my blog. Thanks for following!!

We Have a Winner!!!!!!!!!!

I cannot even begin to say how happy I am with the support I have gotten from all of you.  My expectations have already been met and then some.  This blog was really a trial run just to see if I could get followers.  But look at all of the followers I have!!! 

 

Since so many of you were nice enough to follow with bloglovin' and/or leave a comment to let me know, I decided to pick 5 winners!  Yes...you heard that right...5!!!!

 

Congrats to these lovely ladies!  I have emailed each of you.  Please let me know what 2 products you would like from my TpT store.  www.teacherspayteachers.com/store-shifting-teacher-k-2

 

 

 

Stay tuned for more about my move to a new school to be back in kindergarten!!